The Cleveland Guardians have a clear plan in place for Nolan Jones.
The Cleveland Guardians made, at the time, a shocking trade to acquire Nolan Jones from the Colorado Rockies.
When the trade happened, many questions were raised about how each player on the roster would fit into the larger picture.
With Cleveland’s recent roster moves and comments from Chris Antonetti, the picture is becoming much clearer.
As for how Jones fits into the equation, Antonetti revealed that he will primarily see his playing time in the outfield.
“We expect Nolan Jones will make the Opening Day roster, and exactley how we deply those guys, Vogt will work on a nightly basis to figure out the best matchups. But I would anticipate Nolan will get the bulk of his at-bats in right field against right-handed pitching,” said Antonetti.
None of this comes as a surprise, but it’s official nonetheless.
Jones has always been a power threat from the left side of the batter’s box and has feasted against right-handed pitchers with a career .266 batting average and a .820 against right-handed pitching.
With Jones and Jhonkensy Noel in the outfield platoon, Cleveland is set to have a power-heavy (and swing-and-miss-heavy) platoon in the right field.
If there was any uncertainty with Jones’s role on the team, it would’ve been his defensive position.
Jones came up through Cleveland’s organization as a third baseman and has experience playing first base as well.
Perhaps the Guardians could use that versatility in a late-game position change, but as Antonetti said, the majority of his time will be in the right field.
Now that the pieces are in place, it’s time to see how it plays out on the field.
